7392craig

Not sure about this one. Depends where Richards ends up playing (although many people seem to think he's here to play as a CB) and whether we get another RB to use Bacuna further up the pitch. I've just been on the club official website and noticed that Bacuna is listed as a midfielder…. does anyone know if that's always been the case?? I understand he'd always played as a midfielder until he joined us. I think Lambert thought he could convert him given his attributes. But as has been mentioned, his marking is poor. He also tends to lose track of his runner, but has instinct when it comes to crossing, shooting and making a pass. A midfielder all day for me.

As I posted a few pages back, I heard about this meeting from a guy at work who's brother works for the club. He said his brother has been told he has to attend, and he's just a coach driver for the players. I have no idea whether it's takeover related or not but it doesn't seem like a normal run of the mill staff meeting.

New shirt unveiled on the 7th? I thought of that, but would they make such a big fuss about it to the staff? Why would it be enough for the players to skip training?

A guy I work with, his brother drives the coaches for the players to away games. He's just called to say they've been told all staff (players, drivers, general staff etc) will not be working on Tuesday, players will not be training, as there is a meeting that they they are all required to attend. Staff being informed of a takeover maybe?

He took a wage cut when he signed his new deal last season, he said as long as he got to see his career out at Villa he didn't mind what the deal was. In regards to people claiming he'll be gone with Tim in charge, Tim said Benteke and Gabby are the best strike pairing outside the top six, so I don't think he'll be going anywhere until he retires.

Unfortunately not. Dammit

What has happened here?? Isn't N'Zogbia out of contract anyway?

The game is hugely contested in midfield, and our midfield is average at best. Grealish is not there yet and it's not fair to push him too soon. We haven't got a player with any sort of creative, clever pass, no great tacklers, nobody with a decent shot or capable of finishing. We have a midfield full of players 'with energy'. We really do need to look at this. Obviously it can't be done over one transfer window, but we need to make a start.

Game. Set. Match. Don't think I can watch any more. Tired of seeing us bottle it at the big moments, too safe, too easy for arsenal.

Coming off now, I'll be back on after the game. Good luck everyone, in a couple of hours we could be FA Cup champions. UTV!!!

Anybody feeling confident? I don't know if it's just my nerves but my optimism has gone out the window.

My mates are all noses, they think we'll win. But they're almost saying it as if they're covering their arses because of the abuse they say they're gonna give us, rather than actually thinking it.

That has to be one of the most pathetic things i've heard. All the bluenoses are having one down my local, I drove past earlier and they've got 'congratulations Arsenal' banners everywhere. Arsenal shirts shirts in the window too, pathetic, they know more about our games than we do.

I haven't stopped pacing the room all day, and I feel like throwing up, and I've still got hours left.

Read the article earlier, we knew this was going to happen. Pisses me off how he's suddenly a world class striker now there's interest from other clubs. The way they're talking about him is as if he's already moved to Liverpool. "How will Rogers fit him into their passing style?" etc

I had a dream last night that we got smashed 6-2. Ozil, Giroud, Sanchez and Ramsey all scored in the first half, it was so embarrassing.

It's began, I'm starting to panic for no reason. I feel my heart pounding and I wonder what it is. Then I realize I'm panicking about the game :/ Anyway, just for the sake of it, my team would be Guzan Bacuna Vlaar Okore Cissoko Cleverly Westwood Delph Grealish Benteke Gabby

He came in, threw money about trying to get us in CL, failed, then had to make drastic cuts in spending and wages in order to make up for this. This made for a shit time for us as fans. BUT had we broke into the CL we probably would have been able to keep ourselves afloat. We're only in this position because we failed at it, but to be fair he gave it a go and it could have worked out. I'd rather it have been done with a long term plan but it could have worked. Let him move on and the next guy can have a go at it his way.

Nobody is moaning that Sherwood wants people with the right attitude at the club. That's what you just said. People are surprised more than anything that he called players who are currently playing for him "losers". That's astonishing to me. I haven't moaned about it. It might be a catalyst that causes us to kick on and win the FA cup. But I still think its an astonishing thing to say. I think he meant losers, as in they have a losing mentality, not just 'losers' if you know what I mean lol Not that it means much to a lot of people on here. I personally think it could be a good thing, a lot of players will play their arses off in the final to prove they're not one of said losers, who I assume will be shipped out in the summer.

There have been many ups and downs in Lerners time here. We all know things could have been worse, and that it shouldn't necessarily be 100% credited to him that these bad scenarios never happened. But he has certainly tried, and as it has been pointed out, we should judge him finally on who he chooses to sell to. By reading the interview with the times, it does seem to suggest that he's looking for a decent buyer as apposed to the first guy who shows the money. Fingers crossed things are on the up

Something odd at the stadium today, the atmosphere seems very anxious about something.

What you doing on the Gabby thread Dave? You're never on here and I never knew you didn't rate Gabby lol In all seriousness though, I believe Gabby took a hefty pay cut to stay with the club when he recently signed his new deal which effectively keeps him at the club until retirement, which shows a lot of commitment on his end. Also I do agree with many people in regards to his inconsistent form but I am still a fan of his. He's not a bad striker, just an inconsistent one. In the seasons where he's played purely as a striker he's had great patches, we all know he can't play wide yet he's played roughly half his games there, which is not his fault. When we had a good team under MON and he played up front, he would guarantee 10-15 goals a season. I know that's not brilliant but when you look at other teams around the league it does show he's no worse than average. Is he really worse than Naismith, Nolan, Fletcher, Anichabe, Crouch etc? These are all regular starters for your average prem team. There are only 6/7 20 goal a season strikers in the league, a lot of teams usually have a starting striker who doesn't break into double figures. I just think Gabby is your average prem striker who comes out with a flash of brilliance now and then. Plus I'll forgive him because of the SHA goals and the ones in the relegation scraps.

Since Sherwood took over, we've won every game I've watched at home. All the others I've watched down the pub. Safe to say I'm staying in for this one.

Got the weekend off work and got my tickets, first game I've been able to go to in a while so looking forward to a Villa win regardless of what team is selected. Fingers crossed

I completely agree, it's going to happen with the type of football we're playing. It's not gung-ho as some are suggesting, it's high intensity attacking. The problem is unless you're playing lesser teams, you do need a strong defense to play that type of football, our defense does need looking at in the summer. Maybe today wasn't the day to play the way we did, but I'm sure Tim has learned from it, and I'd rather us lose a few games with this type of football if it means we can have periods of great games like we have the last couple of months. I certainly don't think Tim or the team will dwell on it too much.